Historical industrial architecture and conflicting objectives of monument protection, urban development, creative industries and production of architecture - Heritage-management and good-practice at the UNESCO World (industrial) Heritage Site Zollverein

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Harald A. Mieg
• Subject Area: Architecture, Building and Construction History, Construction Research, Sustainable Building Technology ; City Planning, Spatial Planning, Transportation and Infrastructure Planning, Landscape Planning
• Term: from 2016 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 318142940

The preceding DFG research project studied transformation processes of historic industrial architecture of four cases in Europe. The research question was how to bridge conflicts between monument protection, urban development, creative industries, and contemporary architecture. This project showed, among other finding, firstly, that monument protection and urban development can be understood as distinct "discourses" and, secondly, how so-called bridging values (e.g. accessibility, conservation, development) support to resolve conflicts between discourses. The DFG knowledge-transfer project applies findings about discourse interactions between cultural heritage and urban development planning to heritage management of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Industrial Complex Zollverein, Germany. Since the IBA Emscher Park (1989-1999) Zollverein has been holding a pioneer role in setting standards for industrial heritage management from a national and international point of view. Co-operation partner is the Foundation Zollverein (Stiftung Zollverein) that is responsible for the site.The integration of concerns of conserving a listed heritage site with urban development planning is one main task of heritage management and is assessed through best practices. The knowledge-transfer project supports the definition and documentation of an exemplary industrial heritage management, which is not worked out so far. The work programme includes:(i) a process: in cooperation with Foundation Zollverein criteria for best practice will be defined and a toolkit for heritage management developed; (ii) a product: main product is a web-based collection of best practices, displaying best practices in the heritage management of Zollverein and reflection them with findings and experiences from the national and international discussion on heritage management (Oevermann, Mieg 2015);(iii) as a scientific feedback: to deepen knowledge about (sustainable) urban transformation processes (cf. Mieg, Töpfer 2013).Process and product both include an extension option with regard to further industrial heritage sites. The results of the project should contribute to advance post-graduate education at the Georg-Simmel Center for Metropolitan Studies of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.Specific objectives of the knowledge-transfer project are:1. Practical task: to develop a toolkit for heritage management and best practices collection, furthermore to care for the long-term use of the web-based best practices collection2. Applied research: to research into how to integrate heritage management and (sustainable) urban development planning in the context of urban transformation processes.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants (Transfer Project)
• Application Partner: Stiftung Zollverein